1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for location-independent treatment of biomass.
2. Description of the Related Art
The method of hydrothermal carbonization represents an efficient way to utilize biomass, particularly for the production of bio-coal and other products that occur within the scope of hydrothermal carbonization. In this connection, the carbonization process takes place in a reaction vessel, with the addition of steam, wherein predetermined ambient parameters must be set in the interior of the reaction vessel. For example, it is necessary to work at an elevated temperature and a clearly elevated pressure, so that the carbonization reaction can take place completely and in energy-efficient manner.
For batch operation of a facility for carrying out hydrothermal carbonization, generally at least one pretreatment tank and one reaction vessel are required. If necessary a cooling vessel is also provided into which the biomass is conveyed after completion of hydrothermal carbonization and in which it can cool. On the basis of the ambient conditions that must be created in the vessels, it is necessary to keep the vessels on hand in a specific size, so that a specific throughput of a facility can also be achieved, particularly on the basis of the desired batch operation. This requirement, however, more or less defines such a facility spatially, so that it is necessary to regularly pick up the biomass where it occurs, and, if necessary, to bring the resulting product back to the producer.
It is problematical, in this connection, that the biomass can change, depending on its type, during a waiting time or as a result of transport, particularly if fermentation processes set in. Furthermore, the effort for driving biomass to a facility for hydrothermal carbonization that might lie at a distance frequently appears to be too great. Up to the present, however, nationwide provision of hydrothermal carbonization facilities does not exist, by far, so that the currently existing capacity utilization possibilities for the use of biomass are hardly sufficiently used at this time.
It could represent a solution for such a problem to configure a hydrothermal carbonization facility in mobile manner, in order to use it on location for a period of time and then, after the biomass that occurs in the immediate surroundings has been delivered, to move it to another location and set it up there again. This configuration, however, appears to be difficult because of the spatial requirements of the devices and vessels needed to carry out hydrothermal carbonization, because they can assume only small dimensions on the basis of the predetermined container sizes in mobile applications.